recommend some all round tyres

AdrianC

darkmatter101 wrote: »

Unless you drive in a spirited manner and/or do many miles/year or drive a performance car I don't see the need of spending the extra on premium brands. Is it up to the individual to know the limits of their cars and drive safely, not the rubber on the car.

The problem comes when somebody needs to react to an external situation - brake, swerve - and the tyres simply don't allow it. What could have been a close call becomes an insurance claim - or worse - because of saving a tenner on a tyre. It's even more ridiculous when you realise that the shorter life of most budget ditchfinders means they're actually more expensive per mile.

darkmatter101

force_ten wrote: »

the question is would you fit them on your car?

and if not why reccomend them to somebody else?

No, I would not fit them on my M3 because that is in an entirely different league of car to most bog standard cars on the road.

I do however have a set of Autoguards budget Chinese ones on my Yaris. My last tyres on the Yaris were Goodyears all round. Do I notice a difference? Yes, doesn't grip as well in the wet but only noticeable if I push the car in the wet. Also, if I do take high speed sharp turns (which I normally don't do for obvious reasons) it understeers a little more. My point is that I don't drive the Yaris like a prat so for me it really makes no difference whether I use budget or premium tyres . One advantage I have found with the Autoguards compared to the Goodyears is that they seem to last forever.

Iceweasel

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

I don't need them. I manage fine without them. We don't have enough snow in the UK. Certainly not down here in the south west.

Happy now?

They aren't too expensive, I do have space and I don't slide all over the place. Driving on snow on normal tyres without "sliding around all over the place" is not difficult, provided you exercise caution. Many people don't exercise caution, or say "It's a 4wd SUV, I don't understand why it slides off on corners" as they are driving around on snow as if it's a dry road, because they don't understand the difference between traction and grip.


Drive to the conditions and respect the limits of the vehicle. It's not rocket science!

You may manage fine - but tens of thousands of others don't - that's why I laugh at the pathetic attempts to keep going on summer rubber shown on TV news every-time a single centimetre of snow falls in the South.

Caution doesn't work - because no matter how hard I try I can't drive other folks cars for them.

I get stuck, not by the snow or ice - but by the vehicles in front, whose drivers cannot manage fine and rely totally on the local authorities to clear the roads and spread salt/grit and other cr*p which does little to keep the traffic flowing.

Driving to the conditions and limits of the vehicle is why we need to consider making Winter tyres compulsory - but only when it snows - no need to specify dates as in some countries.

Lives would be saved and the many millions of £s lost to businesses would be reduced.

Also folks who can manage fine through the winter on summer tyres could just stay at home and take a day off.

With the amount of snow in the south losing a day's pay would possibly be cheaper than buying winter tyres.

darkmatter101

AdrianC wrote: »

It's even more ridiculous when you realise that the shorter life of most budget ditchfinders means they're actually more expensive per mile.

I have heard others say this online, but in my experience the Autoguards seem to last forever. In fact any sport, premium tyres I have used in the past only last around 8k or so. My Michelin Cups are wearing away at a fast rate and I do not even do a lot of miles on the M.

force_ten

darkmatter101 wrote: »

No, I would not fit them on my M3 because that is in an entirely different league of car to most bog standard cars on the road.

I do however have a set of Autoguards budget Chinese ones on my Yaris. My last tyres on the Yaris were Goodyears all round. Do I notice a difference? Yes, doesn't grip as well in the wet but only noticeable if I push the car in the wet. Also, if I do take high speed sharp turns (which I normally don't do for obvious reasons) it understeers a little more. My point is that I don't drive the Yaris like a prat so for me it really makes no difference whether I use budget or premium tyres . One advantage I have found with the Autoguards compared to the Goodyears is that they seem to last forever.

I have a standard family saloon and i wouldn't put cheep chinese import tyres anywhere near my car and nor would i recommend anybody else do the same

you say that your car fitted with ying tong tyres does not grip as well in the wet and it understeers more in the wet well that would be enough for me to steer well clear

go and have a look at the likes of alibaba.com and you can buy these cheap chinese tyres by the container load for around £10.00 a tyre which rings alarm bells with me why are they so cheap at source, my take on that is because they are cheap rubbish

My car is fitted with continental summer tyres and will soon be fitted with dunlop winter tyres as i value my safety and like premium brand tyres, I fully understand that not everybody can afford to fit premium tyres but i would recommend a good mid range tyre or even a part worn premium tyre over a cheap chinese tyre

gilbert_and_sullivan

darkmatter101 wrote: »

Please give your definition of a "real" tyre? In your opinion are budget Chinese tyres not "real" tyres? These budget tyres all meet UK and european safety standards and yes, they may not grip as well as some of the premium brands, but are they really worth twice the price?

Unless you drive in a spirited manner and/or do many miles/year or drive a performance car I don't see the need of spending the extra on premium brands. Is it up to the individual to know the limits of their cars and drive safely, not the rubber on the car.

I suppose about the definition, you seem to have your own idea, you don't apparently fit Chinese tat to your M3.
Even though it's laden with electronics so you don't have to drive it competently to keep it on the road you still put decent rubber on it.
So i suspect you have an idea of what a real tyre is yourself.

Its not an either or, you don't need to spend twice the price of a ditchfinder to get something decent, if you did nothing other than searched for a tyre that had B rating minimum for wet grip, you would eliminate 90% of el cheapo brands and quite likely end up with either a Uniroyal or Vredestein, two makes noted for their excellent quality and good value tyres, there are many others that don't cost a fortune if bought well...but you don't always find these sensibly priced at your local tyre bay, nor used if you insist on doing that.

Companies like the two above don't spend fortunes on advertising or wooing car makers with cheap tyres for their production lines, are just as good as the alleged premium and far cheaper.
I would compare Vredesteins with any premium make, their winter tyres alone are among the best in the world and have been for years.
I replaced Michelins with Vreds on a VTS Citroen to stop the torque steer, it worked, better overall grip, quieter and better ride.

Price wise i've just had two Uniroyal Rain Experts (B rated wet grip) delivered to my house for my daughters Civic S , 195/65 x 15 V rated, for the princely sum of £83.70 the pair give or take a few pence.
Find me something Chinese with B rating wet grip for any appreciably better price, then tell me why she'd be better off with them.

force_ten

darkmatter101 wrote: »

I have heard others say this online, but in my experience the Autoguards seem to last forever. In fact any sport, premium tyres I have used in the past only last around 8k or so. My Michelin Cups are wearing away at a fast rate and I do not even do a lot of miles on the M.

that would suggest to me that the autogards are a very hard compound tyre, they last for ever but they have poor grip in the wet

a good quality tyre that is designed for grip will be a soft compound rubber that will wear out faster

would i fit fit hard compound tyres to my car?, no because they will wear well but they wont grip the road, on the other hand would i fit F1 slicks to my car?, no because they will stick to the road well but wear out in a week

so we have to go for a tyre that is a mix of both and gives a good compromise between grip to wear

onomatopoeia99

Iceweasel wrote: »

I get stuck, not by the snow or ice - but by the vehicles in front, whose drivers cannot manage fine

As do I. When that happens I put on my wellies, get out my snow shovel and walk to the head of the queue where I start shovelling snow and / or pushing stranded vehicles. I'm not a powerfully built type, but understand that sitting in my car looking at a queue of cars in front of me isn't going to achieve much to solve the problem and many hands make light(er) work.

force_ten

ice

you seem to be a man that knows a bit about tyres, What happened to viking tyres?

I used to run viking tyres in the late 80,s and the early 90,s and found them to be a good mid range tyres, at the time my car came fitted with pirelli P600,s and they wore out very quickly

at the time my local supplier recommended i try Viking tyres, i was a bit dubious as i had never heard of them but he said he was running them on his car and if they were rubbish he wouldn't be using them

I ran with viking tyres for about 10 years and was more that happy with them but they no longer seem to be sold in the UK

darkmatter101

force_ten wrote: »

I have a standard family saloon and i wouldn't put cheep chinese import tyres anywhere near my car and nor would i recommend anybody else do the same

i value my safety and like premium brand tyres, I fully understand that not everybody can afford to fit premium tyres but i would recommend a good mid range tyre or even a part worn premium tyre over a cheap chinese tyre

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

I replaced Michelins with Vreds on a VTS Citroen to stop the torque steer, it worked, better overall grip, quieter and better ride.

Force ten may I ask what family saloon car you drive?

I don't quite follow your logic here. You say you prioritise road safety yet think that a car like the Citreon handles well? A car with better handling (i.e. less oversteer and stopping distance) with budget tyres would probably still handles better and therefore be safer than a car with poor handling with premium tyres.

Also I would think twice before getting a used premium tyre. If money were a constraint, it be safer to purchase a brand new budget chinese tyre than a part worn premium tyre. You do not know weather that used tyre has had any punctures or repaired damage etc.

However I do agree that premium tyres are better than budge ones clearly, but not sure weather they are always worth the extra premium. In most cases they probably are, if you can get them at a good price